Key seat wiper



mi W HM@ m Q dan wf M f@ J. J. BURRIS KEY SEAT WIPER Filed May l5. 1948Dec. 2, 1952 Patented Dec. 2, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

This invention relates to a key seat wiper.

The invention embodies certain improvements over thattype of tooldescribed in applicants copending application filed March 26, 1946,under Serial No. 657,267, now Patent No. 2,501,025, issued March 21,1950.

An object of the present invention is to incorporate into the toolreaming blades whereby the hole may be reamed and the tool, when itbecomes stuck, can be subjected to jarring action to release it forwithdrawal.

In drilling wells, particularly deep wells, by the rotary drillingprocess wherein the drill is driven by a drill stem extending to theground surface the drill stem, particularly in bores that are notstraight, often wears a groove in the side wall of the bore of lessdiameter than the diameter of the drill collar and when it is attemptedto pull the drill stem and drill from the bore, as must often be done,the drill stem will follow said key seat, or wall groove, and the drillcollar will become stuck therein, so that it is very difficult, andsometimes impossible, to withdraw the drill from the bore.

It is another object of the present invention to provide means forenlarging, or wiping said groove, or key seat, so that the drill collarand drill will readily pass upwardly therethrough when it is attemptedto withdraw the drill.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device ofthe character described including the combination with the drill stem ofan impact member which is slidably mounted thereon and which isrotatable therewith with reaming blades thereon, together with impactfaces spaced apart on opposite sides of said impact member provided forthe purpose of jarring the impact member loose, by the reciprocation ofthe stem, should it become stuck in the groove, or key seat.

The impact member may be mounted at any selected location on the drillstem and when 1ocated between the drill and the drill collar, that isimmediately above the drill, it acts as a stabilizer and also makes itpossible to ream upwardly to free the drill in case it should becomestuck.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a toolof the character described wherein the drill stem is provided with abreak out joint located within the impact member so that the drill sternmay be separated and withdrawn and thereafter a shing tool lowered andengaged with the impact member to withdraw said impact member which istoo large to be washed over and thereafter a washing string of pipe maybe lowered over the remaining equipment in the usual way to wash thesame loose and thereupon the washing string may be removed and a shingtool lowered on a string and engaged with the upper end of saidremaining equipment to remove it from the bore.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingspecification which is illustrated by the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the tool shown partly in section andconnected into the drill stem above the drill collar.

Figure 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional view.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2,and

Figure 4 is a horizontal, sectional view illustrating an enlargedcross-sectional View of the bore hole formed with a key seat and showingthe tool located therein.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings wherein like numerals ofreference designate the same parts in each of the figures, the numeral ldesignates a conventional drill stem having a reduced tubular section 2which is connected with the stem above the tubular section 3. The upperend of the section 3 if formed with an enlarged coupling member 4 forconnection with the drill stem above and whose lower end is formed withan enlarged coupling member 5 for connection to the upper end of thetubular section 2 shown in Figure 1.

The lower end of the section 2 is outwardly enlarged forming an upwardlyfacing, annular, impact face 1 and said enlarged lower end is alsoformed with a tapering, externally threaded pin 8 adapted to be securedinto the upper end of a section of the drill stem beneath or to thedrill collar 9 to the lower end of which the drill Il] is connected.

Mounted on the tubular section 2 there is a tubular, relatively heavy,impact member Il whose lower end is provided with internal longitudinalkeyways l2 and the lower end of the tubular section 2 adjacent and abovethe impact face 1 is provided with longitudinal keys, or splines I3which work in said keyways. These keys and keyways are of such lengththat they will remain in mesh with the impact member l i in its upperposition that is when its upper end is in contact with the lower endface 1a of the coupling member 5 so that the impact member is at alltimes rotatable with the drill stem.

Incorporated into the tubular section 2 of the drill stem there is whatis commonly known as a safety joint which comprises a tubular femalemember I4 and above it a tubular male member I5. These members may beconnected together by coarse intermeshing threads I6.

In the illustration shown the upper end of the male member I5 isenlarged forming an external annular downwardly facing shoulder I'I andbetween this shoulder and the opposing end of the female member I4 theremay be inserted an annular washer I8 whose upper end under surfaces I9may be serrated or roughened so that the male member cannot be screwedtoo tightly into the female member. This connection is located withinthe impact member I I.

If for any reason it should be desired to remove the drill stem it maybe turned to the left end and this safety joint is formed as abovedescribed so that it will break easier than any of the other joints ofthe drill stem to the end that said drill stem may be detached andremoved as will become necessary under certain conditions.

The impact member I I may also be formed with external, radially,extended longitudinal reaming blades, as ISa, three of these bladesbeing shown in Figures 3 and 4.

In drilling the well should the bore become crooked, or curved, thedrill stem will -bear against the inside of the curve and form a groove20 in the sidewall of the bore, commonly known as a key seat and thiskey seat may be formed in the wall of the bore some distance above thedrill collar or the impact member I I.

In the form shown in Figure 4 the drilled hole is shown as having becomeenlarged to a large transverse diameter as sometimes happens dependingon the `formation of the stratum being drilled.

In lowering the drill stem in the well bore or in elevating the same thekey seat may be enlarged by the reamer blades upon rotation of the drillstem thus providing for the free passage of the drill collar when it isdesired to withdraw the' drill stem from the bore.

Should the impact member II become stuck in the key seat the drill stemmay be reciprocated to allow movement of the impact faces 1, 'Ia intocontact with the opposing ends of the impact member II to jar the sameloose and this operation may be repeated until the key seat or groove 20is worn away or enlarged until the drill collar and drill may be readilyremoved therethrough. If however this cannot be done the drill stem maybe then turned to the-left and the safety joint hereinabove describedbroken out and the drill stem removed.

The impact member is of a size such that it cannot be washed over,practically, so a selected fishing tool may be lowered and the impactmember thereby independently removed and thereafter a washing string ofpipe may be lowered and a washing fluid may be forced down through saidpipe around the remaining equipment in the usual way to wash the sameloose and said washing string maythen be removed and a fishing toollowered on a string into the well bore and engaged into the upper end ofthe female member I4 and the remaining equipment below then withdrawnfrom the well bore.

If it be desired to do so the key set wiper may be incorporated into thedrill stem between the drill I0 and the drill collar 9 above and thedrilling equipment operated in the manner hereinabove explained. In suchevent, however, should the drill become stuck in the well boreso that itcannot be pulled out the drill stem may be broken I4 at the safety jointas before and the drill stem and drill collar withdrawn leaving thedrill and impact member at the bottom of the bore to be fished out.

The drawings and description are merely illustrative and it is notintended to limit the invention to the precise form shown and describedwhile the broad principle of the invention will be dened by the appendedclaims.

What I claim is:

1. Well drilling equipment comprising, a drill stem, upper and lowerimpact faces on the drill stem, an elongated impact member mounted tolmove longitudinally on the drill stem between said faces, said drillstem having a safety joint within the impact member whereby the stem maybe separated.

2. Well drilling equipment comprising, a drill stem, upper and lowerimpact faces on the drill stem, an impact member mounted on the stembetween said faces and movable independently of the stem, into contactwith either of said faces and a. safety joint incorporated into the stembetween said impact faces and the impact member whereby the stem may beseparated, interengaging means on said stem and impact member holdingthe stem and impact member against relative rotation in all positions ofthe impact member on the stem, said means being disengageable uponseparation of said safety joint and removal of the stem above said jointto permit upward removal of said impact member from said stem below saidjoint.

3. Well drilling equipment comprising, a drill stem, upper and lowerimpact faces on the drill stem, an elongated impact member mounted onthe stem between said faces and movable independently of the stem, intocontact with either of said faces, a safety joint incorporated into thestem and conned within the impact member whereby the stem may beseparated and reamers on the impact member.

4. Well drilling equipment comprising, a drill stem which is formed ofsections fixed against longitudinal movement relative to each other,upper and lower impact faces on the drill stem, a sleeve-like impactmember mounted on the stem between said faces and movable independentlyof the stem into contact with either of said faces, a safety jointincorporated into the stem and connecting said sections and locatedwithin the impact member whereby said stem may be separated.

5. Well drilling equipment comprising, a drill stem which is formed ofsections fixed against longitudinal movement relative to each other,upper and lower impact faces on the drill stem, a sleeve-like impactmember mounted on the stem between said faces and movable independentlyof the stem into contact with either of said faces, a safety jointincorporated into the stem and connecting said sections and locatedwithin the impact member whereby said stem may be separated and reamerson the impact member.

6. Well drilling equipment comprising, a drill stem, upper and lowerimpact faces on the stem, an impact member mounted to worklongitudinally on the drill stem between said faces, said drill stemhaving a safety joint within the impact member whereby the stem may beseparated between said impact faces and the upper section of the stemand the upper impact face removed to allow the independent removal ofthe impact member.

7. Well drilling equipment comprising, a drill stem, upper and lowerimpact faces on the drill stem, an impact member mounted to movelongitudinally on the drill stem between said faces, a safety joint insaid drill stem between said faces and within the impact member,longitudinal grooves on the interior of the lower portion of the impactmember, projections on the `drill stem below the safety joint extendinginto said grooves to hold said impact member and stem against relativerotation, the upper edges of the projections engaging the upper ends ofthe grooves to limit downward movement of the impact member on the stem,but permitting disengagement of the impact member from the stem onupward movement thereof.

JOSEPH J. BURRIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,370,492 Smith et al. Mar. 1,1921 1,509,350 Gianella Sept. 23, 1924 1,671,458 Wilson May 29, 19281,745,351 Bishop Feb. 4, 1930 1,897,267 Mecom Feb. 14, 1933 1,983,545Johnson Dec. 11, 1934 2,026,931 Burns et al Jan. 7, 1936 2,049,289 Burnset al July 28, 1936 2,072,320 Thomas Mar. 2, 1937 2,074,608 Gosline Mar.23, 1937 2,212,067 Hoioss Aug. 20, 1940 2,463,353 Brown et al Mar. 1,1949 2,501,025 Burris Mar. 21, 1950 2,572,307 Brown et al Oct. 23, 195120 Free, by K. Marshall Fagin, Petroleum Engineer,

vol. 18, October 1946, pages 272, 274 and 276.

